"A number of people, particularly in the profession of training and organizational development, argue that if you are going to bring people into a room or you're going to work with group of employees on a change effort that you should really try to create a positive environment, you should try to create positive mood," he says.
As part of his research, Brown and an assistant gave a group of students small gifts when they came to a training session and played music during breaks. They found about a third reacted positively. Another third reacted negatively and the other third basically had no reaction to the gifts and attempt to lighten the mood with music.
"We had some people who, you know, just thought this was kind of neat," Brown says, "...and other people who actually ended up disliking the environment more." In the minds of that group of people, the gifts and the music meant trainers were "trying too hard."
Brown doesn't classify his research as "groundbreaking," but he suggests it may be a "wake-up call" to those who conduct employee training for a living and assume plying participants with goodies will make the training go more smoothly. (Radio Iowa)
“It has been proven that breaks are essential for satisfaction,” says Rich DiGirolamo, founder of Recess at Work Day. “Breaks lead to satisfaction; and satisfaction easily transfers to increase morale, reduced employee stress, more engaged and healthier employees; ultimately having a positive impact on productivity, absenteeism and profits.”
The president of Canon Electronics, Hisashi Sakamaki, is also the author of a book proposing some of the same measures he takes with his own company. His theory is that forcing employees to stand not only saves money but increases productivity and enhances employee relationships.
In the hallway, if an employee walks slower than 5 meters every 3.6 seconds, an alarm and flashing lights are set off, reminding the poor startled worker that he's an inefficient waste of air. Even better (or worse), there's a sign on the floor in said hallways that reads, "Let's rush: If we don't, the company and world will perish." The big boss, as a reward for thinking up all this stuff, gets to lounge in a nice, relaxing chair.
The key to the project is a focus on human values in games. "The game has an unsettling feeling,” said Mary Flanagan, the developer of the game as the Director of the Tiltfactor Lab. "It is cute and fun to play, but when you realize how frightening the situation is, the game in fact functions as a very dark portent."
WARNING: If you take your 70’s - era folk music seriously, this video may give you a facial tick. All, others, please refrain from eating or drinking anything while viewing so as not to ruin your company’s computer equipment…
Created by New York-based engineer and designer Sherwood Forlee, these bags are sure to gross out any lunch thief. Just place your delectable sandwich inside its clean yet deceptively filthy-looking plastic, and voila: the unstealable sandwich. Even the most stealthy lunch thief won't be desperate enough to eat a moldy sandwich (we hope).
Just be careful when you saunter to the kitchen, pull that blessed sandwich out of the mold-filled bag, and knowingly take a bite right there in front of your boss. If not properly informed, she might get the impression you're so starving you'll eat a month-old sandwich. That, or she'll think you're just plain gross.
“Ice breakers and energizers heighten the effectiveness of learning sessions when targeted to the training, speaking, or facilitation topic and the needs of the learners or participants,” according to Scott McArthur at McArthur’s Rant.
What’s my name?
As each person enters the room, have them write the name of a famous person on a sticky note. Have participants stand or sit in a circle. Keeping the names hidden, place sticky notes on the participants’ foreheads.
One by one, each person asks ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to determine the name of the famous person posted on their forehead. Depending on how much time you have, set a limit to how many questions each person can ask before they guess the name on their sticky note.
Go from person to person until everyone has guessed right or wrong. If you have a large group, break them down into manageable teams of 5 or 6.
